From Evernote:

Serenitea - Not your ordinary cup of tea, really!

Hokkaido pearl milk tea from Serenitea @ Solenad 2, Nuvali, Santa Rosa - Tagaytay road, Santa Rosa, Philippines.

It's my first time to come to Serenitea. All along I've been wondering why so many people willing to queue just to get a cup of Serenitea milk tea. 

After I tasted this Hokkaido pearl milk tea, I know why: because it's very delicious and it's definitely not your ordinary cup of tea just like what it's said on the Serenitea tag line.

There are so many kinds of tea you can choose. You choose the flavor, then choose how much sugar contain u want, then you choose the sinkers such as pearl, panna cotta, grass jelly, aloe vera, etc. 

Since it was my 1st time, I go with the #1 on costumer's choice list: Hokkaido. Hokkaido is milk tea with caramel flavor. I chose the sinkers: Tapioca pearl bubbles because I'm familiar with the taste and texture.

If you come to Philippines, on the way to Tagaytay, you stop by Serenitea. But before you go there, make sure you check out the website: http://iloveserenitea.com/ and 

make a mental note what to order so that you won't make the queue even longer because you just can't make up your mind which tea to order in the counter :)

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallow Part 1

I sit alone at the corner spot of The coffee bean & Tea leaf, trying to gather my thoughts with a glass of caramel ice blended and a ham & cheese pandesal in front of me. My hands are shaking and my heart beats so fast as if I just got the effect of caffeine when I haven't even taken a sip of my caramel ice blended. I feel so warm and my brain can't think right. I felt numb all over my body when I ordered my drink just now. I couldn't even mention my order correctly. I thought I was about to get a heart attack or something. These all happened to me because I just came out of a cinema. I just finished watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1.

I know you think I'm ridiculous.  Unless you are a big Potter fan like me and have watched the movie, only then you would understand why I'm like this. My hands are still trembling by the way. I am still struggling to compose myself and type this post even when my iPad touch keypad is big enough for my fingers. I am trying my best to calm my self down by slowly chewing my ham & cheese pandesal and take a sip of my caramel ice blended.

I'm supposed to write a review of this movie for this post, but honestly, I AM SPEECHLESS. I wanted to tell you how the movie was but what comes out from my mouth is just aaaaaa....uuuuuu.....aaaaa....gaaagaaa...

I definitely lost words to describe the movie. That movie has just blown me away!  
I tried to just write it slowly, taking my own time while calming myself down. 
And the first thing that came out of my mind was thanking The Lord for giving me the opportunity to live through the Potter era. I thank Lord for giving the world J.K. Rowling and her wonderful imagination that she shared with us. I have gone through so many ups and down in my life, happy and sad moments in life, moving house from one country to another, and I am very...very grateful that I have always been lucky to be able to follow the magical journey of Harry Potter in books and in movies. I have always had a personal connection with him and his magical world through these years. 

The feeling that I had when I sat in the cinema half an hour before the movie started, is very hard to describe. As the movie started with the very familiar tune, my brain was rewinding itself to the first moment of my encounter with the most famous wizard boy. I had trouble concentrating to the movie because my brain was busy presenting me flashes of my memories I have kept since the day I watched the 1st movie of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's stone, 10 years ago. I actually had to wear my sunglasses in the darkness to keep my eyes focus to the movie playing in front of me. I am sure those who sat next to me wondering there must be something wrong with my eyes... :)  

Oh God...I'm supposed to write the review about Part 1 of the last installment of Harry Potter movies, right? But I believe you don't even have to read my review to decide whether you should watch this movie or not when you have read how my body reacted after I finished watching that movie. Anyway, just in case you still want to know what I think about that movie, I have. one word to say about that movie: SPECTACULAR! 
There...I am finally  calm down...at the same time I finished my ham & cheese pandesal together with my caramel ice blended... :)
I hope I will be lucky again to be able to watch the last & final installment of the Harry Potter saga.

  

Hairspray - the movie musical

Link Larkin (Zac Efron) singing Ladies' choice

I have been a fanatic of musical movies since The Sound of Music, the first musical movie I watched. To me, musical movies are full of energy and bring so much joy when I watch them. So, when I had a chance to watch Hairspray - the musical movie, I quickly ran to the cinema and bought a ticket to watch this movie alone.

The cinema was only half full because it was a matinée show, and mostly are ladies who watch this movie. Accompanied by small cup of 100 plus and popcorn, I sat right in the middle of the cinema that gave me a very good angle view to the big screen. This movie is great and is so fun. I think it has so much more fun compared to Chicago. I love Chicago-the movie musical too, by the way.

Hairspray is full of high-spirited songs and dance moves. It's so colorful. The story is touchy. It's about how you can accept differences among you; the issue between black and white people, between the skinny, popular, and the fat, not so popular, people.

Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnbald, opened the show singing Good morning Baltimore (I love this song so much. Another song I like from this movie is also sang by Nikki, I can hear the bells.). Although the over sized-Nikki Blonsky is a newcomer in the movie industry, she has done a fantastic job as Tracy Turnbald. She and her character, Tracy, have proven to the world that you don't have to be skinny to be a great dancer. I love Nikki Blonsky. Her face is very pleasant and very pretty. She really can act, sing, and dance.

John Travolta as Edna Turnbald, Tracy's super sized-mom, is hilarious. He is a diva alright...:D John is a terrific actor. He can dance even as a fat woman on heeled shoes. His dance is marvelous. I love to watch him singing and dancing in this movie especially when Edna sang (You're) Timeless to me together with Christopher Walken as her comical husband. That scene is so romantic.

Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant as the villain-Velma Von Tussle. I could never imagine that she could act as a 'pretty' villain perfectly. Her face is too soft to be a bitch...:) But in this movie, she delivered it brilliantly.

Amanda Bynes, as Penny Pingleton, is very cute. I have just watched her in She's the man, at first I couldn't recognize her. The ugly hairstyle of Penny Pingleton made Amanda looked so cute and innocent...:D It's pretty much the opposite of her characters in She's the man.

Other actors and actresses also delivered each character perfectly. And of course, the handsome blue eyes-Zac Efron, is so great to be Link Larkin. I love to see him singing and dancing and I want to see him more. I wonder if he will ever be casted together with my other lovely blue-eyes favorite actor, Daniel Radcliffe. Oh my God! Just the thought has made me go crazy... :D (BTW, I did watch them being in the same show, the Rove live show. If I were there sitting in the audience seat, I'd probably be fainted.. :D Luckily I only watched it on youtube..he..he..he).

Anyway, back to Hairspray..:)
This movie is a must watch if you want to feel happy. I found myself smiling all the way until the end of the movie. I just felt so good after watching this movie. Why would I want to watch movies with so many brutal murder and killing scenes. To me, life is already harsh enough with many people killing the innocent people brutally. When I watch movie, I want to be entertained. I want to feel good about life so yeah...Watch Hairspray - the movie musical, you'll feel great and happy after you get out of cinema. I found myself humming Good morning Baltimore as I walked out of cinema...:D

High School Musical 2

I had marked my calendar long time ago to make sure that I wouldn't miss High School Musical 2 (click this link and you'll get addicted :P) shown on Disney Channel (Astro Ch. 61). So last Sunday at 7.30pm local time, I was glued to my couch to watch this great Disney original movie.

I think this show is marvelous. I love this show very much because this show has successfully brought me back to the time when I was in my high school. This is what teenagers' life is about; bright, colorful, energetic, full of great memories of friendship and puppy love affairs.

HSM2 has high quality casts that really can dance, sing, and act beautifully. They sang and danced with high energy. The love story is so sweet and so cute. The friendship story very much represents what a teen friendship all about. HSM2 also has great songs and dance moves it made me speechless and breathless watching that show (because if I sang and danced together with them, I would shake the whole building and my neighbors would send a police patrol to catch me for creating a local earthquake..he..he..he..The fat woman danced!!..wha..ha..ha..).

Oh how I miss those times when I was so young, so innocent, so full of energy, so skinny, so busy, and had so many friends tailing me in what ever I did. I love to sing and dance since I was very small. During my teen time, I was a member of my school dance team. I always performed during every school celebration and I even performed outside my school events. I performed traditional and hip hop dances. I was also a member of my school choir.
As a teenager, my day would start at 5am and I would return home at around 7pm. Even during my 1 day weekend (which was only Sunday because my high school day was from Monday to Saturday), I would leave the house so early in the morning because by 6am, I had to be in my school for Paskibra training. Honestly, I have no idea how to translate Paskibra in English. What I know is that Paskibra stands for Pasukan pengibar bendera. I usually had my dance training in the afternoon.
In between my busy schedule at school, I still had to go for French language course twice a week and to go for my modeling show to earn some pocket money to help my parents.
As a teenager, I also followed the trend of going to the party (usually my friends' sweet 17 birthday parties) and going to a dance club and would return home at 3 o'clock in the morning! Oh well, to think about it now, as a mother, I am not sure if I will be able to let my son go to the dance club 'till 3am... :-|
But the good thing is that I have never ever touched, gone near or had anything to do with drugs and such. I didn't even smoke. So, my parents trusted me. I just wanted to dance and to have fun with my friends. Sometimes, my dad would follow me to the dance club. My dad would be my dance partner and my bodyguard. I really didn't mind this at all. I felt safe because I knew no one would dare to touch me... :D

Now things have been so different to me. I am not as energetic as before. My body is out of shape. I am not as good looking as before and my schedule is focused on raising my beloved son.
I still love to dance though and I am a member of Jazzercise.com Malaysia. Now I dance to keep fit and to loose some weight. At home I sing and dance with my beloved son. So, while watching HSM2, I kept on telling my son that teenage time is the best period of your life time.

REVIEW: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

Finally, after 3 days of intense marathon reading of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, I have about 2 hours to write the review of the book before I go to sleep. It's quite a great accomplishment for me to be able to finish reading a 607-page book in 3 days because I have my duties as a mother to be fulfilled before I could have my time to read the book.

As an avid Potter fan, I know how bad it feels to read a review full of spoilers about that book, so in this review, I will avoid mentioning anything that can be considered spoilers.

Let me start my review by giving a standing ovation to J.K. Rowling for her greatest accomplishment in writing this fantastic magical world of Harry Potter. In the 1st 24 hours, this final book of Harry Potter has been sold for 8.3 millions copies in United States alone. Making it to be the fastest-selling book ever in the history. Congratulation, Jo! I tip my hat to you. She is the most genius writer I have ever known. By reading all Harry Potter books, I realize how broad her knowledge is because she does not just any how conjure things to make the story more interesting. Her choice of words, her writing style and the way she develops the suspense really mesmerize me. I think the Harry Potter series should be included in must-read books for your literature references.

Just like the previous books, this final book of Harry Potter series is really engaging. The moment I started reading it, it is extremely hard to pause it. I literally had to scream to myself that my duties as a mother should be my priority. The story is so intense making it so difficult to put down even when my son was running around naked waiting for me to shower him. My son has been very cooperating. He understands how I really wanted to finish reading the book a.s.a.p... ;)

The closure of Harry Potter series is just like what I always wish it would end. It's quite ordinary and I'm sure many of the readers have predicted that way but the way Jo Rowling brought the series to an end is exceptional, definitely beyond what every one could every imagine and think of. The way she convey the message of LOVE AND DEATH is remarkable! It makes a new reference on how you should love and how you should deal with death. It's about who the true master of death is. Deathly hallows versus horcruxes. There is an interesting twist about Severus Snape and Dumbledore in their relationships to Harry Potter. This book is very emotional. I did cry alot reading this book. It is not scary though it's quite bloody. The description of each place or situation is so detail you can even imagine yourself there next to Harry on his adventure to meet Voldemort. It's absolutely fantastic!

On the downside, I think this book is like a summary of all previous books. It's not good though because once you have finished reading this one, you don't feel like you need to read the previous books.

But overall, this is an outstanding book. It's a must-read book for those who still learn to love and still don't know how to deal with death. It's very encouraging and very inspiring. The story and the characters are so rich considering it is a kid-teen story book. The Harry Potter series are my favorite series of all time. I surely will let my son read them and I hope he will love them. If you still want to know who dies at the end, Harry or Voldemort? Get the book and read it! If you can't afford to buy it, try to borrow from your city libraries and be patient. I'm sure the paperback version will be cheaper.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

For the first time in my life, I have got my self so ready to watch a movie even a night before the movie started. I arrived in front of the cinema exactly an hour before, ready to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a huge Potter fan (books and movies), I determined to concentrate fully on everything about this movie so that I can give a fair review on this fifth installment of Harry Potter movies.

As usual, I prefer to go watching Harry Potter movies by my self because to me, this is the time when I can see my imagination comes to life. It's my private moment where I could make connection with all my imaginary characters.
Thanks to my hubby, I got the worst seat in the cinema. He was the one that chose that seat for me the night before when he collected the ticket for me. I wonder if he did it deliberately because I refused to take him along... ;)
Luckily, I could move seat to get a better view though at the end, I encountered a much worst disturbance right next to me when the person sat next to me fell asleep and snored so loudly through out the 3/4 part of the movie... :(

Anyway, the movie started 5 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. For 2 hour and 18 minutes I was blown away by the spectacular visual effect and by the marvellous acting of all casts, old and new ones. I definitely see how Daniel Radcliffe's acting has improved tremendously. He really was successful to bring out the deepest emotion of Harry Potter in the most perfect way. Dan is brilliant! Dan embodies Harry Potter perfectly. He has made me even more difficult to separate him and Harry himself. This shows how he really is serious about taking his career as a great actor.
Emma Watson is superb and Rupert Grint are great too. Basically, all old casts really did their job marvelously. I can see how they have become 1 big family.
The new casts are comparably wonderful too. They are perfect for each role they portray.
There is one particular new cast that really drew my attention: Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. She has done a great job as Luna Lovegood.
She is so successful in portraying Luna Lovegood just like what I imagined when I read the book. To me, she has acted far better than Katie Leung who plays Cho Chang.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange are successful in making me hate their characters so much. They both looked so evil and cruel.

The fighting scene at Ministry of Magic office was cool with all the visual effect but unfortunately it was too short and quite abruptly cut to quickly end the movie.
And for the script, this movie was not great either because it has removed too many important moments and scenes on the book and replacing them with a different version to build up and to connect the storyline which was quite disturbing for those Potter book fans. Understandable though because it is so impossible to fit every thing in a 2hour and 18 minute-movie.

But overall, David Yates has done a marvelous job. He has his own vision on book 5. It was a great movie to watch even if you never read any of Harry Potter books before. This movie sends a very good message about conquering the evil within and also about love and friendship. I laughed, I cried, I got mad together with all characters in the movie. I felt I was there with them until the movie ends and I reluctantly had to get back to the reality.
Oh I wish it never ends. I have to wait for another year at least to be able to jump in to my imagination. I hope next week when the last book is out, I am able to find Harry smile because he finally finds his true happiness in life. I literally held my breath and I was so intense when I saw him fighting to conquer the evil inside him. I wish I could just hug him and give him strength and tell him that everything is gonna be alright. Unfortunately, it's all only in the movie.

One advice before you decide to watch this movie, just like the book, every Potter movie gets darker and scarier than the previous ones. It is definitely not a children movie at all. It's good if you can watch it alone so that you can connect your feeling privately just like I did... :)

Spiderman 3

Last Saturday night, my husband took me out to watch Spiderman 3. He managed to get the last 2 tickets for the 8pm show at a cinema near our house. It is really not easy to get the ticket for this movie. Since the 1st day it was released last week, the movie tickets for Spiderman 3 have been snapped up so quickly though all cinemas have added more show times for this movie to accommodate the heavy demand.

My husband and I were so eager to watch this movie so when we finally got the chance to watch it, we were so excited. We came just in time when the movie started. The cinema was pack. It was full house! There were many children watching this movie. There were 3 sitting just behind me and my husband and they made so much noise!

Anyway, my husband and I tried our best to concentrate on the movie. We definitely didn't want to miss any bits of it.

In my opinion, the 3rd installment of Spiderman movies is the best one. It is way much cooler compared to the 1st one which to me was already quite cool.
I like everything about it; the storyline, the movie effect, the script that will make you laugh so hard and cry afterwards. This movie is fantastic and hilarious as well.
I really like the part when Peter Parker's boss is reminded by his secretary to keep himself cool and the part when Eddie (the freelance photographer) is about to take photo of the Spidey (and he asked Spidey if Spidey was smiling - because he can't see Spidey's mouth)...wha..ha..ha..:D
Those 2 parts are so funny. I can't describe exactly how funny it is. You should go and watch the movie yourself.
On this movie, we get a chance to see the 'black' side of Spiderman (which is very cool... :D) and 3 new villains (the new goblin, the sandman, and the venom).
This movie delivers a message about love, friendship, and sacrifice for the people you love in a simple way that makes you able to connect to this movie well.
I personally like the new goblin (one of the new villains)...wha...ha...Why? I'm not gonna tell..he..he..he..If I tell you, I'll be the spoiler... :P Well, ok, 1 reason is because James Franco (the actor who plays New Goblin) is handsome!! :D But the main reason? I seal my mouth :|

Tobey Maguire is cool to be the Spidey (especially when he is a black spidey), but unfortunately, I think he is quite short. Does it matter?? Not really..whe..he..he...because he doesn't have to 'stand tall' and protect the victims. He crawls and swings using his sticky spider-silk.

Apart from the 3 kids that kept on making so much noise behind us, my husband and I really did enjoy watching the movie. In fact, we wanted to watch again if we can get the tickets.

Doner Kebab@Puri Mall

My mother has reminded to put this story here to give another example of jungle life in the city but this time happened in Jakarta.

At that night, I took my parents for a walk at Puri Mall and we decided to have dinner at the foodcourt there. Before we went back home, my mom wanted to buy a lamb kebab for take-away. My mom has been longing to have a lamb Kebab from Doner Kebab restaurant. She's been dreaming about it and promised to herself that she would only have it with me.
I accompanied her to order 1 lamb kebab. At that time, there was another customer before us who ordered 4 vegetable kebab. After I placed an order and paid, the cashier asked me and my mom to step aside and wait for the lamb kebab. We followed the instruction.

After for about 20 minutes, we still haven't been called for our lamb kebab while we have seen many other customers ordering different kinds of kebab and I could see that Doner Kebab crews were overwhelmed by the orders. It was very chaotic because some people have come back because they got their kebab different from what they had ordered earlier.
My mom came forward and asked if her kebab was ready or not and instead of asking an apology or giving some nice explanation to my mom, the cashier shouted at my mom to step aside and just wait. I got pissed off and stepped forward to face the cashier. I tried to explain nicely to the cashier what we have ordered and how long we have waited patiently.
The cashier also shouted at me to wait because the lamb kebab not ready. She was extremely rude! I did not move and stared at her. She quickly went to the kitchen and came out again with a package of kebab. She gave me the kebab and said "this is your lamb kebab!" and pushed the kebab to me. I still stared at her but I took the kebab. Meanwhile, there were other customers who yelled at her impatiently for their kebabs.

I walked off together with my mom and went back home.

At home, my mom quickly opened the kebab and ready to enjoy her dream kebab while telling me all stories about how long she had dreamt of eating that kebab. Once she bit her kebab, she realized that her lamb kebab was not lamb kebab. It was vegetable kebab. The vegetable kebab is alot cheaper compared to lamb kebab I have paid for! She got soooooo upset. She thought that kebab was one of the vegetable kebabs ordered by the customer before us. She was extremely upset and disappointed. She was very angry with her self for wanting to eat kebab so badly. I felt bad, terribly bad. I asked her if she wanted to return to Doner Kebab restaurant to change the kebab and complain and talk to the manager. My mom refused. I was disappointed too. My mom blamed me for staring at the cashier that made the cashier went to the kitchen and took any package of kebab to make me go away.

I really didn't like the attitude of Doner Kebab cashier. I really do not recommend Doner Kebab to anyone! That's how you will be treated! No apology or explanation! Just plain rude!
What a jungle way of life in the city of Jakarta!

The Holiday - the movie

I went to watch The Holiday by myself yesterday because my husband wanted to watch Blood Diamond and I don't feel like watching any cruel movies at the moment. I just want to watch a movie which I can relate myself to and not to use my brain too much. I just want to relax basically so I decided to go watching the movie alone.

In my opinion, The Holiday is great! I love the movie. I love the simplicity of the story line and the funny script, not to mention the cool main actresses and actors acted on that movie (the gorgeous leading ladies: Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslate, of course the handsome and sexy Jude Law plus the cute and funny Jack Black).

The story is about 2 broken-heart ladies who agree to swap their houses for 2 weeks during Christmas holiday so that they can forget about the men who broke their heart and try to move on with life.

The story is simple and you can guess what will happen but still I like it. I absolutely adore the British accent too!! It's very contagious. In fact, the moment I came out of the cinema after watching that movie, my accent suddenly changed to british accent!!..Wha..ha..ha.. :D
Honestly, this movie reminds me of the old feeling of being rejected, heart broken, and the sort. It also reminds me of how to love and how to fall in love again. Now that I'm married for 7 years, I kind of miss those feelings in me. I know it sounds rubbish. You'll do rubbish things anyway when you are in love. So, yeah...I do miss acting foolishly in front of the man of my dream, do rubbish things or crying feverishly over the man that broke my heart to pieces. Though I still do the latter recently... :)
A good romantic comedy movie like The Holiday has been rare these days. The last good romantic comedy I've watched is Notting Hill. It's been ages ago, I know.
This is another reason why I like this movie so much. This movie does remind me of the same movies of its genre such as You've got mail, Sleepless in Seattle, etc.

I do recommend this movie for your Valentine's day movie.

Happy Feet

The moment I saw the ad for this movie, I went quickly to the website (http://www2.warnerbros.com/happyfeet) and wanted to find out more about this movie including the release date in my country. Lucky for me because this movie is released a day earlier than in what is written on the website so I didn't have to wait too long to watch this movie. After watching this movie, 1 word came out from my mouth, "CUTTTTEEEE!!!!!!".
Just to repeat, CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

This movie is super cute! I love this cute movie so much.

Happy feet is a story about the emperor penguins focusing on the story around Mumble the super cute baby penguin who has the worst voice among all penguins but is an excellent tap dancer.

There are many fun songs and dances on the movie, not to mention funny dialogues and moves by the penguins. Just by watching the way these penguins walk, already made me bursting to laugh.
It's rated U (in Malaysia), so it is a very good family movie. Go take your children with you to have fun together.

In Malaysia, Golden Screen Cinema (GSC) has loads of promotions for this movie. I got a huge HAPPY FEET umbrella yesterday when I watched this movie by purchasing 1 big caramel popcorn with coke and sprite + additional payment of RM5.50. I think it's quite a good deal for such a big and cute umbrella for just RM5.50.

Go watch this movie! Guarranty you'll be happy too!
BEWARE!! THIS MOVIE MAY CAUSE TOE-TAPPING!! REALLY! REALLY!